Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob, who are attending a regional meeting of officials in Singapore, said on Thursday (April 5) the conflict will have global repercussions, even if the direct impact on South-east Asia's gross domestic product may be minimal for now.

"The composition of our GDP is mostly fuelled by consumption" and the government is aiming to boost investment to further diversify economic growth beyond exports, Indrawati said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin.

She added that the deteriorating trade relations between the US and China and prospects for further retaliation "is not going to serve the interests of both parties."

US President Donald Trump is attempting to upend the global trade framework, arguing that China's trade practices are unfair, with alleged violations including intellectual property theft and export subsidies. Indrawati, a former World Bank managing director, said those differences should be dealt with through the World Trade Organization rather than erecting tariff barriers.

CURRENCY SURGE

China is the biggest trading partner for many South-east Asian economies and an important source of investment and tourism in the region. While large domestic markets in Indonesia and the Philippines help to shelter those economies from a trade war, other economies in the region, like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, are more reliant on exports.

Indrawati said she's still optimistic that Indonesia would meet its GDP growth target for this year of 5.4 per cent, a slight pick-up from 5.1 per cent in 2017.

Veerathai said in a separate Bloomberg Television interview that the US-China trade developments are "definitely something we have to monitor very closely" and that retaliatory actions are of great concern, but that so far "the direct impacts have been quite small."

The central bank has been trying to manage the currency's appreciation so it doesn't undermine the competitiveness of exports as the trade environment becomes more challenging. At the same time, it has to avoid being singled out by the US as a possible currency manipulator.

'WIN-WIN'

"As the central bank, we have to step in to ensure that the pace of appreciation is not damaging the economy as a whole," the governor said. "We have to be careful on the impact of currency movement, in terms of volatility and the pace of appreciation on the real sector."

Malaysia is seeking an exemption from US tariffs on steel and aluminum shipments and to gain clarity on the solar-based equipment penalties, Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said in Parliament on Thursday. The government has requested to meet with US trade representatives April 17 to sort out a deal.

Countries in the broader Asia region were also monitoring the developments closely.

South Korea's finance minister said on Thursday the trade tussle between the United States and China was being closely watched and that the country had prepared measures for various scenarios.

"There are unofficial talks going on between the two countries (the United States and China) regarding the trade issue and (South Korea) is closely watching how the situation is going to unfold," Kim Dong Yeon told reporters.

Kim also said there was no change to the ministry's stance that it would take smoothing measures to stabilise foreign exchange markets in cases of sharp volatility.

South Korea, along with China, avoided the currency-manipulator label in twice-yearly US Treasury report, but was kept on a currency "monitoring list".

Joaquim Levy, managing director and chief financial officer at the World Bank, said he was optimistic the trade disputes will be resolved.

"At the end, people see that there are many ways to get to a win-win situation, so we are confident it will prevail," he said in a Bloomberg Television interview Thursday. "There is so much scope because trade is something that usually expands your frontiers, so that is the natural way where things should gravitate."

The Straits Times

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